WASHINGTON—With the CFPB announcing its focus on medical debt, America’s Credit Unions emphasized it continues to have concerns about the Bureau getting overly involved in the credit process.
As CUToday.info reported, the CFPB has put out a proposal in which medical debt would be exempt on credit reports.
“This is something that we certainly will weigh in on,” said ACU Chief Advocacy Officer Carrie Hunt. “Obviously, we support the CFPB's concern and desire to police bad actors who are using these credit reports and other information to try to strong arm individuals into to paying back debt. However, we do have concerns again with the bigger picture of the CFPB trying to input its judgment into the entire credit process.”
Hunt said ACU and the leagues have strongly supported the option for alternative credit reporting, like the Vantage Score.
Incredibly Important
“We still think those are incredibly important options,” she said. “But at the same time financial institutions need to make sure they are understanding the full picture of the potential borrowers’ finances. We will talk to our members about this issue and we'll absolutely weigh in. But, again, we have concerns with the CFPB potentially artificially disrupting the credit process.”
As an example, Hunt pointed to the Bureau’s new overdraft and credit card rules.
“The CFPB, ultimately, could bring forth the unattended consequence of restricting the market for those who are there trying to help the most,” she said.